Bucks Could Grab Andrew Bogut Style Center This Summer

Thanks to their blockbuster trades first for All-Star Jrue Holiday and later for Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks don't have a ton of draft equity available in the short-term.

But they do still have one pick in next month's 2025 NBA Draft.

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Using the Detroit Pistons' No. 47 pick (which they acquired via a prior trade), Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report predicts that Milwaukee could find an Andrew Bogut-esque big man, CBA standout Hansen Yang of Qingdao.

The 7-foot-1 big man, 19, has impressed in his current league. But questions remain about how his game will translate at the NBA level, Wasserman notes.

"Every scout presumably watched film of Hansen Yang put up numbers in China," Wasserman writes. "But they also had to see him execute against mostly different-caliber athletes in the 2025 NBA [Draft] discussion. And Yang looked like he belonged [in Chicago's NBA combine], playing with swagger and confidence while scoring 12 points in the opening scrimmage and totaling 11 points, six boards and six assists on Thursday.

In his 45 bouts with the 31-15 club last season, Yang averaged 16.6 points on .586/.333/.671 shooting splits, 10.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.6 blocks and 1.0 steals a night.

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"He delivered a number of wow plays, including a three-pointer, some fancy footwork from the post and a few beautiful dimes that highlighted obvious passing IQ and quick processing," Wasserman writes of the Qingdao star's combine performance.

With 37-year-old Brook Lopez hitting unrestricted free agency this summer, Milwaukee needs to replenish its frontcourt.

Even if the former two-time All-Defensive Team starting center opts to return to the club, his playoff performance against a younger, more athletic vintage of 3-and-D center, Pacers star Myles Turner left a lot to be desired. It devolved to the point where, in a closeout Game 5, head coach Doc Rivers opted to start defense-free reserve Bobby Portis over Lopez.

Bogut, selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams, never developed into the All-Star he was expected to be, although he was an All-Defensive Teamer and a one-time All-NBA honoree during his stints with the Bucks and the Golden State Warriors. Bogut won a championship with the Warriors in 2015.

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